Ravens safety Earl Thomas doesn’t like Pete Carroll. That became abundantly clear when Thomas directed his middle finger at the Seahawks coach while leaving the field on a cart last September.
“I don’t regret my decision,” Thomas told Josina Anderson of ESPN. “If my teammates felt like it was toward them, I regret that part. But I don’t regret doing that to Pete.”
Thomas said Carroll’s show of concern on the field after he broke his lower leg was not genuine.
“I gave Pete the middle finger because I felt like he wasn’t being honest with me,” said Thomas, adding that he hasn’t spoken to Carroll since.
Thomas aired his grievances more than four months after signing a four-year, $55 million deal with the Ravens, with $32 million fully guaranteed. Thomas asked for either a trade or a contract extension in the 2018 offseason, and when he got neither from the Seahawks, Thomas held out until the week of the season opener.
Thomas departed Seattle with some bad feelings toward Carroll, saying the two didn’t see eye-to-eye over many issues.
“We got to walk with each other the rest of our lives because we won a Super Bowl together,” Thomas said. “But they’ll love you one minute and then hate you the next. That was our relationship.”
Thomas, 30, has said he hopes to retire a Seahawk. He made 28 interceptions, 67 pass breakups and six Pro Bowls in his nine seasons in Seattle.
The Ravens travel to Seattle on Oct. 20.
